Last December, I was goofing around on the internet and somehow found the Yantra Mat. The Yantra Mat is an acupressure mat that takes the stress off of your pressure points and increases blood flow. Acupressure is basically acupuncture without the needles.

The site claimed that lying on the Yantra Mat would ease back and neck pain, muscle tension, headaches, stress, fatigue and help you sleep better. It sounded like some sort of miracle mat so, out of curiosity and a hope that it did indeed work, I ordered one.

I got it in the mail a few days later and it did all that it promised! After laying on it for 15 minutes or so, I felt relaxed and free of my back pain. I felt like I had just done an hour of yoga or gotten a good massage.

I use my Yantra Mat for everything now. If I can’t seem to fall asleep, I lay on it. If I have a stomach ache, I lay on it. Sometimes, I just plop down on it while I’m watching T.V. It is truly amazing. I would recommend investing in one to anyone who has back problems or trouble sleeping.

They come in multiple sizes and shapes so they can hit just about any place that ails you. You can purchase them online at Yantraway.com and they run from $39 to $69 depending on the size of the mat. It is definitely worth a try!

For the guys:

1. The Beeson Bow Tie from Brier & Moss $45

2. Hartford Microdot Shirt from Seaside Classic $160

3. Smathers & Branson SEC Needlepoint Belt $165 available at Barefoot Princess: 850.534.0925

4. Island Company White Linen Pant from Seaside Classic $138

For the girls:

1. Elizabeth Hurley Stripey Holly Bikini from Seaside Classic $191

2. Scala Collezione Fedora from Perspicasity $48

3. Starr Luna Lovebirds T-Shirt from starrluna.com $42

4. Handmade Leather Shoulder Pouch from Perspicasity $98

5. Hartford Pinstriped Short from Seaside Classic $182

Calling all Newly Weds!

Would you like some of your wedding photos to be featured in the next issue of VIE?– (Our annual Wedding Issue is a must read!) Here is what you need to do to have your wedding considered:

Submit 3 photos for us to review, if you are selected we will ask for more (most likely all the photos you have)

Give us the name of your fabulous photographer so we can give them credit!

We need high-resolution photography in print

The lovely new bride and groom must be available for interview

Don’t forget to include the date of the big day and where it was held!

And provide us with any other information that sticks out!

Please send your submissions directly to me (Meghan Ryan) at this e-mail: meghan@viezine.com

We are all look forward to hearing about your big day! I am a hopeless romantic and I know all of your stories will so hard to choose from! Be sure to check out our previous wedding issues!

Mercy Ministries plans to build a new residential home in South Walton of the same caliber and quality of its other homes throughout the US, Canada, and the UK. The level of excellence and beauty that Mercy Ministries imbues in each home and program is meant to communicate a sense of worthiness and value to each girl who enters the program.

“We’re always excited to have Nancy here,” said Jane Hamon, senior pastor at Vision Church. “She is not only a dear friend, but someone I deeply respect for her tireless efforts to help girls who are grappling with some of the most tragic life issues someone can face. The success rate at Mercy and the stories of transformed lives never cease to amaze me.”

For more information about Mercy Ministries, please visit MercyMinistries.org

]]> http://www.viezine.com/vie/2012/05/community-news-mercy-ministries-founder-to-speak-at-local-church/feed/ 0 http://www.viezine.com/vie/2012/05/mothers-day-green-gift-guide/ http://www.viezine.com/vie/2012/05/mothers-day-green-gift-guide/#comments Fri, 11 May 2012 07:09:41 +0000 Audrey Johnson http://www.viezine.com/vie/?p=9350 When I became a mother, I’m glad to say that I began to understand my own mother in ways that I never knew possible. This Sunday marks the first Mother’s Day that I’ll be one of the honored. Now that I’m part of the crew, I can’t help but think of all those special moms in my life-including Mother Earth. So, I put together this simple green gift guide to help you celebrate Mom while doing your part for the planet.

DIY Sugar Scrub

Mom is a simple 3 letter word that packs a loaded job description. Any given day she could play multiple roles not limited to the following: housekeeper, event planner, waste removal specialist, entertainer, referee, counselor, chef, manager, teacher, nurse and chauffer. Two things are for sure. The list is exhausting, and she deserves to be pampered. Ensure that she will enjoy a spa-like moment for weeks to come by making her an organic body scrub. A cute jar and a handmade label will complete the package and Mom will be just as proud as the time you gave her macaroni art. (Get recipes here!)

Cook an Organic Meal

You may or may not realize that getting dinner on the table at a decent hour can be a challenge of epic proportions-especially with hungry children afoot! This year plan ahead to make a healthy, home cooked meal for Mom. Head to your local farmers market to pick up fresh, seasonal produce and artisan breads. You may luck up and find a homemade gift or two. Trust me, giving her the day off from cooking duties is a wonderful blessing! (Seaside Farmers Market will be held this Saturday and Sunday from 9a-1p in Rosemary Beach.)

Give Organic Flowers

Let’s face it. A woman who doesn’t like getting flowers is a rare woman indeed! The growers at California Organic Flowers believe that vibrant flowers begin with a healthy ecosystem. A handful of workers run the small family farm without the use of pesticides and chemicals. Each flower is cut at the peak of freshness and sent off on its special mission. A bouquet of beautiful flowers grown the natural way is more than enough to make Mom smile. (CaliforniaOrganicFlowers.com)

Audrey Johnson is a freelance writer living in Destin, FL. In 2005, she earned a Bachelor of Science in Sociology and has remained interested in the various ways that groups of people interact. As the contributor for VIE’s “Living Green” column, she’ll be helping VIE readers explore the limitless options of green lifstyles.

This video is a statement of what high school should be like. Everyone coming together for one big project: athletes, musicians, computers wizards, actors, freshmen, seniors, you name it.

Shout out to Ben White and Crestview High School for making this amazing video!

Watch Below

Crestview High Lip Dub 2012

Jake Harms has taken computer recycling to a whole new level-and for that, we thank him. He purchases non-working Macs from local recyclers and repurposes them into happy homes for your favorite underwater friends. His process involves disassembling the Mac, installing a custom made tank, light and filter, and buffing the case until it looks like new. Macquariums come in an array of fun colors: blue, white, smoke, aqua, and red. The tank holds about 3.5 gallons of water, just enough room for three Betta Fish to live swimmingly. (That is, if they don’t kill each other first!) Cleaning and feeding is a breeze, just lift off the case for easy access. Design your fish’s abode any way you like and enjoy! If you already have a dead Mac and you’re in need of a DIY project, Macquarium kits (complete with video instructions) are available. {Click here to get more info about Macquariums!)

Audrey Johnson is a freelance writer living in Destin, FL. In 2005, she earned a Bachelor of Science in Sociology and has remained interested in the various ways that groups of people interact. As the contributor for VIE’s “Living Green” column, she’ll be helping VIE readers explore the limitless options of green lifstyles.

Third in a series of memoirs chronicling specific periods of Karr’s life, Lit touches on Karr’s growing up years with her alcoholic, artist mother and her turbulent marriage to Karr’s father and then focuses on Karr’s adult life. She illuminates those early years with, “I remind her [mom] that Daddy had never stood over me with a butcher knife . . . and part of me knows it’s a pathetic fact that not trying to murder me was all he had to do to win the better parent prize.” Moreover, her reader gets to flip the double-faced coin of perspective and witness those years not only from Karr’s living in the wake of her mother’s addiction but then also as Karr lives the life of the addict when her childhood of survival pours over into her adult life’s own spiraling descent into alcoholism.

This is a story about fear – Karr’s fear that somehow she can’t escape becoming the echo of her mother’s worst self; the fear that her talent as a writer is somehow (in spite of her many honors) an imposter, an embarrassment to her profession; the fear that her upbringing precludes her from having a “normal” family life with her husband and son – sans survival gear. And Karr dutifully wears her fear like a sweater.

However, this story is also about redemption – an ordinary, hard-fought redemption in which its recipient comes to kicking and screaming. There is no raising of the dead, no turning water into wine – only Karr’s gritty humor and searing honesty. She concedes, “It’s unhip to fall to your knees, sentimental, stupid, even. But somehow I’ve started to do it unself-consciously. Behind a door, my body bends, and the linoleum rises.” Karr’s desperate desire for change co-exists with her oftentimes unwillingness to accept that change.

Anyone who’s wrestled with addiction or has lived in Crazy Land with the addicted can well appreciate the acute precision with which Karr chronicles this journey. Her scathing self-assessment and her reluctance to believe in any traditional sense of God makes her story refreshingly real. Of her own skeptically perceived redemption, she confesses, “Once you allow even that sliver of possibility, that crack of light, it’s not long before the stone rolls away from the tomb.” And perhaps this is the point – that redemption may not look at all like the super hero that we had all imagined it would, but rather, it squeezes in one skinny, unappealing sliver at a time.  Mary Karr is a Guggenheim Fellow in poetry. She has won Pushcart Prizes for both verse and essays, and is the Peck Professor of Literature at Syracuse University. Her previous two memoirs, The Liar’s Club and Cherry, were New York Times bestseller.

Jane Beaulieu Cobb lives in the Pensacola area with her husband Chris where they have raised/are raising their six children. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of West Florida in English/Writing. Aside from working as business manager for Cobb Woodworking, LLC, Janie enjoys reading, writing, gardening, running, and living in the overall chaos that is the Cobb household. She is a VIE contributor for “The Written Word” column.

Be sure to check out our behind-the-scenes video of Bringing Preppy Back here for a sneak peak into the inner-workings of a VIE photo shoot. And snag your All-American Summer issue… now!

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Horsey Meet & Greet – No Horse Required

The Okaloosa County 4H Horse Advisory Committee presents a “Horsey Meet and Greet,” May 5, 2012, 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at Camp Timpoochee in Niceville, Florida. The event is for kids who want to learn more about horses but don’t have a horse, and is open to children ages 8 through12 at a cost of $25 ($15/subsequent child in same family). Participants will need a helmet (bicycle is OK), and shoes or boots with a heel – no sneakers. This is a “hands-on” introduction to horses, their care, grooming, and what it takes to own or lease a horse. Register by April 20, at Okaloosa County 4H, 5479 Old Bethel Road in Crestview or call 850-689-5850.

The Horsey Meet and Greet will finish with a short supervised “pony” ride (weather permitting). Youths do not have to be enrolled in 4-H but will have the opportunity to learn more about the 4-H program including the “Horseless Horse” project for those who don’t own horses. For Questions about the clinic, please contact: Susan Simmers 4hhorseadvisory@gmail.com. Space is limited to the first 15 applicants.